5 Best Laptop for Blender “Powerful 3D Laptops”

Blender, as you may or may not know is open-source and free-to-use 3D Animation software developed by 100s of professional to give you an experience of a powerful 3D Computer Graphics Software for FREE.

Basically, Blender is what Linux (Ubuntu OS) is to Computer OS, and being developed by various VFX experts, animators, graphics artists, enthusiasts and so on; Blender has become a beast in itself and can give any paid 3D animation software a run for its money.

However, what’s interesting is; to get started with Blender you need a powerful laptop because 3D animation and Modeling deals with a lot of complex operations performed by CPU and graphical rendering that is taken care by the GPU.

Hence an average or budget laptop is out of question here.

But don’t fret, as I’ve got you covered and listed the Top 5 Best Laptop for 3D Modeling and Rendering, which are perfectly ideal for Blender.

System Requirements for Blender

Unlike other system requirement tables, System Requirements for Blender consists of 3 different configuration: Minimum, Recommended and Optimal.

Take a look at all three of them, but take note that the 5 Best Laptops for Blender mentioned below exceed these system requirements by a large margin.

Minimum

Recommended

Optimal

CPU

Dual Core 32-bit CPU (2 GHz)

64-bit Quad Core CPU

64-bit 8-core CPU

RAM

2GB

8GB

16GB

Display

1280 x 768 Display

Full HD Display

Full HD Displays

Input Device(s)

2-button mouse

3-button mouse

3-button mouse with Graphics Tablet

Graphics

Open GL 2.1 Compatible (512MB)

Open GL 3.2 Compatible (2GB)

Dual Open GL 3.2 Compatible (4GB)

Note: The Optimal System Requirements state that you need a 64-bit 8-core CPU, while the processor most laptops have in this list is 6-core Intel i7-8750H CPU, but it has 12 Threads, which technically acts as a virtual cores in itself. Hence the processor is more powerful than mentioned in the Requirements.

Now that we’re done with System Requirements for Blender, let’s jump straight into the 5 Best Laptop for Blender.

Apple MacBook Pro 15” is “the” go to laptop if you’re a creative professional who wants to get started with Graphic Designing, 3D Modeling, 3D Animation and anything hardware resource intensive.

Due to excellent hardware and software optimization, MacBook Pro 15” is able to provide better performance compared to many beefed up Windows Desktops and Laptops.

For starters, currently, it’s the only laptop in the market that comes with Intel Core i7-8850H CPU, which, is an absolute beast in itself because it has a base frequency of 2.6GHz but when required can offer Turbo Boost up to a whopping 4.3GHz.

The provided GPU (AMD Radeon Pro 560X) isn’t as mighty and impressive as GTX 1080 or GTX 1070 featured in other laptops in this list, but it’s no slouch either, and as I mentioned earlier; due to top-class Hardware-Software optimization makes it the best GPU for 3D modeling.

Apple MacBook Pro 15” boasts 500 nits screen brightness, which is currently the highest on a laptop screen. While the 2880 x 1880 resolution screen in a 15.4” frame offers the highest pixel density compared to any other laptop mentioned in this list.

Additionally, using the Thunderbolt 3 ports, you can connect this MacBook Pro with up to 4 screens at 4K resolution each.

Despite that, Apple disappoints in the RAM section, as for a laptop priced over $2.5K, you only get 16GB DDR4 RAM stick, which is ideal for a Blender Laptop but for the price feels a little low.

On the storage front, Apple provides a single 512GB NVMe SSD, which is a faster and compact version of a regular SATA-based SSD.

With the 84WH in-build battery, you get a battery life of around 10 hours on full charge via the 87W USB-C Power Adapter, while the weight is capped off at about 4lbs.

After Apple MacBook Pro 15”, the next best laptop for Blender is definitely the Asus Zephyrus GX501.

Not only is the Zephyrus best for gaming, but for also the best laptop for 3D animation hands down!

Asus is known for building excellent gaming laptops, but at first glance, you’ll notice that the GX501 is different from a traditional gaming laptop.

Asus wanted to build a lightweight but powerful gaming laptop, and they happen to get it right with the Zephyrus GX501. It weighs around 4.9 lbs, which is not as light MSI GS65, yet gets the job done for people who’re into 3D animations and modeling.

It has an unusual design with the keyboard placed in a different position that we’re used to, while the touchpad is placed on the right side of the keyboard. There isn’t a physical numpad, but with excellent engineering from Asus, you can turn the touchpad into numpad at a touch of a button.

Now a laptop that features a powerful Intel Core i7-8750H CPU and a colossal Nvidia GTX 1080 Max-Q 8GB DDR5 things are bound to get heated up on full load, and it was right decision on Asus’ part to place the keyboard lower than it usually is because you will feel the heat while using the keyboard.

On the contrary, the Asus Zephyrus GX501 features only a 16GB RAM, which is kind of a downfall for the price, yet you do get a bigger 512GB PCIe SSD as standard.

Besides that, you get a 15.6” Full HD IPS-Type Display that offers a speedy refresh rate of 144Hz and response time of 3ms. On paper, it may not look like a lot but in reality when you’re working with animation or game development with fast-paced action. This screen will make that experience butter smooth.

Likewise, the Taiwanese brand has done a great job in heat dissipation which keeps the laptop temperature low compared to other similar spec’d laptops.

Having said that, the Asus Zephyrus GX501 does suffer from poor battery life and with a battery pack of only 50WH, realistically you should expect somewhere between 3-4 hours of battery life on full charge.

Gigabyte is not a household name when it comes to gaming laptops or even laptops for that matter.

But their Aero series of Gaming Laptops have put them in an excellent position and is a game-changer for the entire gaming industry.

It features an Intel Core i7-8750H CPU along with Nvidia GTX 1070 8GB DDR5 GPU, which as I said earlier is the best graphics card for 3D rendering.

Just like the previously mentioned MSI P65 Creator, the Gigabyte Aero 15X features a Full HD 15.6” screen with bezels having thickness of just 5mm. Not only that, the display features a 144Hz refresh rate and is packed in a body of 14”.

Though it’s a little heavy than the P65 at 4.65 lbs, still overall it’s a lightweight Blender laptop that you can carry around without breaking sweat.

However what you’ll love about this laptop is its battery life. It features a bigger 95WH battery that is good to offer battery life close to 9 hours on full charge.

On the design front, this laptop looks ideal, and you wouldn’t get eyeballs rolling off you after people notice that this is a laptop meant for serious gaming.

However what I don’t like is that for a price similar to MSI P65, the Aero 15X features only 16GB of RAM which is coupled with 512GB NVMe SSD for storage.

If you feel a 15.6” screen wouldn’t cut for you, and you need a bigger-screen laptop with powerful specification, then my recommendation would be Asus ROG Strix (Scar Edition)

Out of all the other laptops mentioned in this list, this laptop is my personal favorite!

Not only is the laptop excellent for gamers but it’s the best laptop for Blender as well.

It comes in multiple storage configuration on Amazon:

However, my suggestion is the one with a combination of 512GB NVMe SSD and 1TB of SSHD, all of this storage coupled with a whopping 32GB (16*2 2666MHz) of DDR4 RAM.

Ticking inside is the Intel Core i7-8750H, which by now; you must have known; is the Best CPU for Blender, mated with a powerful and extremely efficient Nvidia GTX 1070 8GB DDR5 GPU.

Since this laptop is sold by ExcaliberPC on Amazon, you will also get 3 additional accessories like the Asus ROG Gladius Gaming Mouse, Asus Wireless Gaming Controller and Asus ROG Compact Case.

Now, most of you might be disappointed as soon as I tell you that this laptop features a TN display. However, it’s not the cheap kind of panel you find on cheaper or budget gaming laptops.

The panel featured on Asus ROG Strix is of excellent quality and a wide color gamut that will surely help in creating color accurate 3D models.

While we’re talking about the screen, let me tell you that it features a 17.3” Full HD Anti-Glare Screen with Nvidia G-Sync that offers refresh rate of 144Hz and low response time of 3ms.

On the design front too, this laptop is a looker. Few years ago Asus’ ROG series of laptops were very bulky and dripped in red, however with the Strix Scar Edition, Asus has gone for a muted look and the only red you’ll see the ROG logo that glows red when the laptop is turned on.

You also get an RGB Keyboard, which may not appease to most people who are doing 3D Modeling or Rendering; however, you can turn the keyboard backlighting to white with the provided software or turn it off entirely to save battery.

Conclusion

If you’ve reached till here, I bet you enjoyed this article, and I’d be glad to know if you’d choose your Blender Laptop from this list.

In case if you’re still in any kind of dilemma, please don’t hesitate to leave your questions or thoughts in the comment section below. Please make full use of it!

However, if you’re still confused over which laptop to choose for Blender, I’ll just write a short summary below:

Get the Apple MacBook Pro 15” Laptop if you want a no-nonsense and professional laptop that will stay relevant for at least next 3 years and last for around 5 years. Macbooks generally have a long lasting life.

Supposing you’re not happy with Macbook for reasons like high price or don’t want to go through the learning curve of MacOS, my next best suggestion is Asus Zephyrus GX501.

It’s a lot powerful than MacBook Pro in terms of specs, and its graphics card is almost 40% faster than Radeon Pro 560X. Additionally, Asus has put a lot of work into the laptop, and with their cooling technology and heat dissipation, the laptop doesn’t go too hot even during peak load.

Moving forward, assuming that portability is your primary concern, then the MSI P65 Creator or Gigabyte Aero 15X won’t disappoint at all. Both of them weigh under 2kgs yet offer powerful specifications for the price.

If you’re not interested in all the fancy bells and whistles and want a laptop that is complete bang for your buck, I can’t help but recommend the custom-upgraded Asus ROG Strix Scar Edition that offers 32GB RAM, 512GB SSD + 1TB SSHD and Nvidia GTX 1070 all for a price close to $2000.